Two-time PGA Champion Rory McIlroy enters Quail Hollow Club this week with a mighty burden lifted. The 36-year-old completed the elusive career grand slam last month at the Masters in stunning and emotional fashion and he heads back to a course he’s won on four times in the past — including his first ever PGA Tour win in 2010.
McIlroy has already won three times this year at some of the strongest venues in the game in Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass, and Augusta National. Now it’s time to roll the sleeves up and get to work at this club he knows so well.
“It's been an amazing 2025. There's been a lot of great golf played, but there's still a lot of golf left to play this year. I'm excited for the journey ahead. Looking forward to this week. Hopefully the weather clears up a little bit and the course can dry out a bit,” McIlroy said in Wednesday’s presser..”(I’m) excited to tee it up in another PGA Championship and give myself another opportunity.”
Last year’s PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele suggested now that McIlroy has completed the grand slam, he’s going to be a ‘scary’ player for the rest of golf to face. So, how does McIlroy look at it?
“I'm just the same person. No, look, I turn up and try to have the same attitude and the same approach to each and every tournament and try to get the best out of myself. Some weeks that results in wins, and some weeks it doesn’t,” McIlroy said. “As long as I approach every week that way, all I can do is go out there and try to play the golf that I know that I'm capable of. As I said, some weeks someone just plays better than you, and other weeks it's your time.”
The rain has already been a big part of the story for this week at Quail Hollow Club, and McIlroy is well aware that the course will be affected by the soggy conditions and heavy rain early in the week.
“I think everyone's preparation has been somewhat hindered this week because of the weather. I decided to fly home from Philadelphia (Truist Championship) on Sunday night,” McIlroy said. “I spent a day in Jupiter, got a couple hours' practice at home at the Bears Club before I came up here. I feel like I prepared the best way that I could. I played the front nine (Tuesday). I'll play the back nine today. Yeah, it's not as if I don't know this place.”
So knowing the venue as he does, will there be parts of his game that he needs to fine-tune to be best prepared for Quail Hollow’s testing doglegs and green complexes?
“I think it's a matter of just making sure that every part of the game feels in a good spot. And yeah, because we all know this golf course so well, it's not as if you're going to glean anything new from a strategy perspective,” McIlroy said. “It's just a matter of stepping up and hitting the golf shots when the gun goes on Thursday.”
Fluid. Focused. Familiar ground. Rory McIlroy, back at Quail Hollow. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/FJPRUpTlab
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 14, 2025
Now that it’s the week of a major championship at Quail Hollow, one might wonder if the feel around the course is different at all for a player like McIlroy who’s seen this course various times since 2010.
“I thought it was going to feel different just because it was a major championship, and I got out on the golf course (Tuesday), and it felt no different than last year at (Truist Championship). The rough is maybe a little juicier. But fairways are still the same cut lines and same visuals. It doesn't feel that much different.”
With the monkey of the grand slam off the superstar’s back, he was asked on Wednesday if there’s another north star for him to pursue in his professional career.
“Not necessarily. I think everyone saw how hard having a north star is and being able to get over the line,” McIlroy said.
“I feel like I sort of burdened myself with the career grand slam stuff, and I want to enjoy this. I want to enjoy what I've achieved, and I want to enjoy the last decade or whatever of my career, and I don't want to burden myself by numbers or statistics. I just want to go and try to play the best golf I can.”
He will get his chance to do just that beginning at 8:22 am ET on Thursday morning in that Rolex featured group with Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler.
